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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23408068">if there's a prize for rotten judgement</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/distractionpie/pseuds/distractionpie'>distractionpie</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>EreJean Week 2020 [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Hercules (1997) Fusion, But if you've seen the movie you know where they're headed, First Aid, First Meetings, Jean Kirstein has Nice Legs, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Touching</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 07:34:49</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,232</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23408068</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/distractionpie/pseuds/distractionpie</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren is destined to defeat the titans, if only he can prove to the gods that he's a true hero so they'll unlock the fullest potential of his powers.</p>
<p>Jean sure as hell isn't holding out for a hero: sure things might look bad right now but he takes care of himself, the last thing his plans need is some too-helpful tough-guy wannabe crashing into them.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jean Kirstein/Eren Yeager</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>EreJean Week 2020 [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1681744</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>50</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>if there's a prize for rotten judgement</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Sometimes when a fic just doesn't work you've got to say fuck it, scrap multiple drafts, and spend the last 48hrs shamelessly ripping off Disney.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Another town, another jeering crowd.</p>
<p>All Eren wanted to do was find somewhere he could train and become a true hero, but everywhere he went people only seemed to deem him a nuisance, or blame him for the problems he was trying to solve for them. Armin and Mikasa has split off from him, travelling separately in the hope of finding some appropriate situation, but even when people were putting out calls for help, too often they were for challenges Eren’s gifts weren’t suited to. No amount of strength would hold a flood at bay forever and though there was potential in the sea monster rumours they hadn’t yet figured out a way for Eren to fight in that environment.</p>
<p>So he was on the road again, trying to remind himself that it was wrong to hope for disaster, when…</p>
<p>“Hey, I said <em>back off</em>.”</p>
<p>The voice sounded more exasperated than endangered, but Eren would take what he could get. Small deeds weren’t going to convince the gods, but they wouldn’t count against him.</p>
<p>He crept closer in the direction, peering through the trees to see a centaur crowding a fair-haired young man in an elegantly draped purple chiton, leaving him nowhere to go but except into the stream.</p>
<p>“You look like you’d fit right in with me, Jean,” the centaur said, grabbing his visibly uncomfortable companion by the bare shoulder.</p>
<p>Jean jerked away, but it didn’t break the grip. “Nessus, I swear, if you don’t remove that hand, I’m going to remove it for you.”</p>
<p>“Ooooh, I like ‘em fiery.”</p>
<p>Eren reached for his sword, remembering the advice Armin had given him after his last disastrous rescue attempt that had nearly ended in the theatre troupe having him arrested: analyse the situation, don’t just barrel in there going straight for the kill, it was important to—</p>
<p>The centaur dragged Jean closer, pulling him up against it’s bare chest forcing Jean to his head away in revulsion.</p>
<p>“HEY!”</p>
<p>Jean and the centaur turned to stare at Eren.</p>
<p>“Mind your own business, two legs,” the centaur brayed at him.</p>
<p>And miss his chance to be a hero and get a little more credit with the gods? “Not until you release that young man,” he said, nodding towards the unwelcome hand that had wandered from shoulder to back, holding the blond in place.</p>
<p>Looking Eren up and down, the disgust on said young man’s face turned to scorn as he said, “Keep moving, idiot.”</p>
<p>“But… uh… I’m going to rescue you,” Eren clarified, just in case there was some confusion here. Sure he’d been on a streak of bad luck with those whole saving people and proving his worth gig, but surely this situation was a no brainier? “You’re a traveller and you’re in trouble, I—”</p>
<p>“And I can handle it,” Jean hissed, shooting Eren a strained smile. “So get outta here.”</p>
<p>Ah…</p>
<p>Of course. For all his abilities, Eren didn’t look like much more than a young man of above average fitness, and the shoulder the centaur had grasped was slim but muscled: no doubt Eren’s soon-to-be rescuee assumed that if he couldn’t win this fight then Eren’s chances were no better and so he was trying to kindly spare Eren the defeat. Well, Eren would just have to show him.</p>
<p>“My name is Eren Jaeger,” he declared, drawing his sword. “And I was born to defeat the titans in this land, and to do that I’m prov—”</p>
<p>The centaur kicked him in the chest, knocking him backwards and sending the hilt flying from his grip.</p>
<p>Oh well, Eren was better at hand to hand anyway.</p>
<p>He charged forward, slamming his body into the lead centaur, causing it to release Jean and, whoops, send him staggering into the stream. Still, he was probably safer there than in the centuar’s clutches.</p>
<p>And… oh shit, the centaur was charging him now, as if it hadn’t learned its lesson from the first hit. Eren braced himself, letting the blow land and then grabbing the centaur and using its momentum to flip it over his shoulder, a move that was particularly devastating to any creature that walked on four legs. The fight went pretty smoothly after that. In a space like this, where he didn’t have to worry about collateral damage, he was free to use his own strength to its fullest and while the centaur was strong enough to easily push around an average human, beating against Eren’s close to invulnerable body just resulted in it hurting itself.</p>
<p>Within minutes, the centaur turned tail and fled.</p>
<p>Eren grinned. It would have been nice to defeat them in a more permanent manner, but driving them off was still a success and one less person they could hurt, and hopefully they’d go forward from this day knowing to fear him.</p>
<p>Now to check on his rescuee, who was still sitting slumped in the stream. Armin would probably have something to say about people winding up drenched not being good for Eren’s reputation, but the gauzy material of Jean’s chiton would dry fast, or at least it would once he was out of the water, and surely his happiness to be rescued would outweigh any minor inconvenience.</p>
<p>“Hey, are you alright there? You should get out of the water before you catch a chill.”</p>
<p>Copper eyes glared up at him. The stream wasn’t deep, but Jean had created enough of a splash when he fell that a few locks of hair were sticking wetly to his forehead as he grumbled, “Do I look alright to you?” he kicked one foot petulantly, the splash clearly aimed at Eren although it fell far short. “Thanks for nothing, tough guy.”</p>
<p>A few steps closer, and Eren saw the reason for his tone. His ankle was turned awkwardly and trapped under a stone that must have been dislodged in his fall.</p>
<p>Wading in beside him, Eren easily removed the rock, for a regular human it was heavy but for him it was like a pebble, allowing Jean to brace his hands as if to get up, but with an ankle twisted at such an angle…</p>
<p>Eren slid an arm under Jean’s knees, feeling the wet hem of the chiton graze his gauntlet, and wrapped the other around his back, and lifted.</p>
<p>“What are you—oh! Okay, so you’re strong,” his rescuee mumbled, as if the fight with the centaurs hadn’t proven that.</p>
<p>“It’s a power given to me by my father,” Eren explained. It made supporting Jean’s weight easy, but holding somebody so tall like this was throwing of Eren’s balance, and so he shifted his grip so that Jean was cradled more firmly against his chest as he made his way back out of the stream. “Once the gods recognise me as a true hero, I’ll be able to unlock the full extent of my abilities and save the world from the titans.”</p>
<p>“Right, well, if you can put me down…”</p>
<p>Eren glanced around the clearing, eventually finding a passable looking felled tree upon which to settle Jean. Jean squirmed a little as Eren carried him, repeating his request to be set down, but barely a moment after Eren placed him safely on the tree he tried almost immediately to get up.</p>
<p>“Hey, hey!” Eren said, reaching out to grab Jean’s shoulders and push him down before realising that might be too close to the centaur’s actions. Instead, Eren knelt before him, blocking his path but in a way that would hopefully appear non-threatening. “Stop a minute, catch your breath.” Shock could knock a person down as well as any injury.</p>
<p>“I’ve got things to do,” Jean huffed. “I’ve already had one interruption. Don’t make yourself another.”</p>
<p>“You won’t get them done if you faint from rushing back to activity too soon,” Eren argued. Jean looked terribly pale, with a flush high in his cheeks, and thought he hadn’t been in the water long enough to pick up a fever, the situation had clearly given him a fright. And if he left now in the wrong direction, he’d probably just run into those centaurs again. “At least let me look at that ankle.”</p>
<p>Lips pursed, Jean stared down at him.“Are you for real?”</p>
<p>“My father was a doctor,” Eren said. He didn’t have all the training, but he’d at least be able to tell if Jean’s ankle was broken or just sore, and if he needed to brace it.</p>
<p>“Right, so you’re claiming they gave you a brain alongside all those…” Jean’s gaze drifted, “…rippling biceps.”</p>
<p>“You should see my abs,” Eren blurted, “I mean… uh… sure.”</p>
<p>Jean’s eyebrows were sharp, sceptical arches. “Really?”</p>
<p>“It’s like I keep trying to say,” Eren complained. “I have the power to defeat the titans, but only with the gods’ approval, so I have commit heroic acts to prove I’m worthy. That means planning, not just hitting things.”</p>
<p>“And you think the gods are going to count getting between those idiots and me as an act of heroism?”</p>
<p>“Why wouldn’t they?”</p>
<p>Jean laughed, low and husky. “Uh huh? You know what, if you think checking out my leg is heroic too, have at it,” he said.</p>
<p>Lifting Jean’s foot carefully, Eren ran a thumb along it until he found the right ridge of bone, tracing it up from his foot and over the ball of the joint, brushing up through fine blond hairs along a reassuringly unbroken line until the definition was obscured by the firm swell of his calf muscle. “Not broken,” he murmured, but the straps of Jean’s sandal wound up his legs in tight loops, gripping him firmly until they tied at his knee. “Uh… sorry, I think your sandal needs to come off for me to check if there’s swelling.”</p>
<p>Lips quirking, Jean gazed down at him. “Alright then,” he agreed, lifting his leg a little higher so the drying drapes of his chiton slipped fully up past his knee, the fabric’s shadow shifting upwards to expose the fastening and a band of paling skin that was clearly usually covered from the sun.</p>
<p>Oh… Eren had meant for him to, but if Jean wanted... He pulled off his gauntlets, since they weren’t exactly suited to fine movements, and licked his dry lips as he reached for the knot. It was tightly tied, and it took a few moments of tugging, feeling Jean’s leg shiver as Eren’s fingers brushed what was clearly a ticklish spot of the soft skin on the underside of his knee, before everything unravelled, sending the straps slinking down Jean’s leg.</p>
<p>Carefully, Eren examined his ankle, pressing out knots in the muscle that might render the joint more sensitive than it ought to be, mapping every inch with careful fingers, take careful note of where Jean gasps and tenses as Eren digs his fingers in, knowing the turn must have left Jean’s ankle tender, checking there was no single point of injury that forced a stronger reaction from Jean. It was a little swollen, but the inflammation seemed limited to that of a bad jolt, nothing that wouldn’t go down as long as Jean were cautious, although by the roadside was hardly a good place to rest.</p>
<p>“Can I escort you anywhere?” Eren offered. Most likely Jean lived nearby, but it wasn’t as if Eren would grow tired if he had to travel further.</p>
<p>“You, the hero trying to prove his valour to the gods?” Jean shook his head. “I don’t think you’re going my way.”</p>
<p>“You should be okay to stand,” Eren admitted, picking up Jean’s sandal steps and carefully re-wrapping them, making sure to position the bands to give most support to the delicate curve of his ankle. “But you need to be careful, it could strain worse if you trying to make a long trip.” Jean’s muscles were firm under his hands, no doubt he had the strength under usual circumstances, but after his run in with the centaurs and his fall surely he’d welcome Eren’s support.</p>
<p>Laughing a little, Jean reached out, slipping one finger under Eren’s chin and tipping his head up, pulling Eren’s gaze from his ankle up the length of him until their eyes locked. “I’m a big boy, tough guy, I meant what I said back there, I can take care of myself.”</p>
<p>It hadn’t looked like that from where Eren was standing, and it wasn’t as if walking, or ideally carrying, Jean to wherever he called home would be any more of a hardship than saving him, but Jean was pretty clearly uninterested in that option, so Eren ducked his head and retied Jean’s sandal before getting to his feet and offering out a hand to help Jean up.</p>
<p>“Well, it was nice meeting you,” Eren said.</p>
<p>“Centaur and all?” Jean teased.</p>
<p>“Ah, that was nothing,” Eren assured him. “Are you s—”</p>
<p>“See you around, tough guy,” Jean cut him off, with a casual farewell pat of Eren’s arm, before he turned, walking away in exactly the direction Eren had come from, which meant there was no way Eren could just happen to be going his way without it seeming too suspicious.</p>
<p>But, who knew, Eren spent a lot of time on the road: if there was a centaur causing trouble in this area maybe there’d be other situations that needed a hero. Perhaps he would see Jean around…</p>
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